PROVO, Utah (AP) — Kalani Sitake will remain as Brigham Young University football head coach after agreeing to a new long-term contract on Monday.
Sitake is 83-44 since taking over at BYU in 2016. The Cougars have won 11 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006 and ’07 and have won at least 10 games in four of the last six seasons he’s been at the helm.
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“For me, I never really considered leaving, but I’m also very competitive and I want to be able to take care of people,” Sitake said. “It’s just one of those moments where I feel like we’re in the Big 12 and we can make the right move and I don’t really need to do it anywhere else. I can do it here. I feel like we have some great momentum.”
Penn State listed Sitake as its top candidate to replace James Franklin, who was fired earlier this season after an 0-3 start in Big Ten play. Sitake spoke with Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft, who reportedly received an offer worth eight figures per year.
BYU made retaining Sitake a priority and signed him to a contract extension, which prompted him to stay at the school, where he played linebacker under LaVell Edwards in 1994 and followed a two-year tour of duty with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1997 to 2000.
As part of the effort to retain Seatuck, BYU pledged to make deeper investments in the football program, including everything from raising salaries for assistant coaches and support staff to improving football facilities.
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“I think Kalani and his vision and passion for excellence have set expectations,” BYU athletic director Brian Santiago said. “He has created something very special and we want to provide him with the resources to sustain it.”
The new extension comes as Sitake prepares for No. 11 BYU to face No. 4 Texas Tech in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship game. This is the first time both schools have played in the championship game and is a rematch of the regular season game on Nov. 8, which the Red Raiders won 29-7.
The fact that Sitake will be watching that game and many more from the sidelines at BYU comes as a relief to the players he has coached and is currently coaching.
“I’d be really sad if he left,” BYU receiver Chase Roberts said. “I’d probably be crying in my bed and I wouldn’t even come back next year. That shows the character of Kalani and how much we care about this program.”
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